by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 03/18/2017 at 16:24
by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 03/18/2017 at 16:24
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STARS: 0
...and bought a computer off of Craigslist. It’s not much, just an older HP i7 2600 system that set me back $200. One thing I noticed in the ad was a dual DVI, double slot width video card, and figured that whatever it was would be better than some generic card. When the computer was new there were all sorts of BTO options, up to a 3GB GT 545, which is not great by today’s standards but better than what I received. I’ve got a better card than even the best BTO option, but whatever was supposed to be in there could have been a nice upgrade for one of my other systems or a computer belonging to a friend or relative; since it was included in the price I could always use it elsewhere at my discretion (picture from the actual listing below):
(I can’t identify the leftmost port on this video card - any ideas? DisplayPort? HDMI?)
The guy had an entire garage full of computers. Hundreds of them. Literally, and I don’t mean that in the figurative sense. He’s a retired auto worker and goes to government auctions and sells this stuff as a hobby/part-time job kind of thing. I noticed a 9800GTX card sitting on the workbench when he was upgrading the RAM in my machine, so he has at least one card similar to what is in the ad laying around, although that may have been set aside for some other project.
I contacted him today about the missing keyboard, mouse and video card. He offered a full refund, which I really don’t want - I just want what I paid for . I don’t know what card was included, but I figure that if I paid his full asking price I should get what he advertised. He said he sold the other HP with that video card, the one used in the pictures in his ad, and he doesn’t have anything else. I asked what other options he would propose to correct this situation and was told that’s all he has - no other cards (which I find hard to believe). How about some RAM? Or a hard drive? Something, anything, to make up for what you shorted me. Nope, nothing - refund or fuck off.
He’s got some great prices on components and such (4GB DDR3 sticks for $11 which sounds good to me), so I don’t want to write him off in case I need something from him in the future, but his attitude just seems, well, kind of dickish. Am I being unreasonable by expecting to be sold what was advertised? After all, he sells just the RAM for $44 and the CPU for $120, so I am getting a pretty sweet deal on this complete computer, but I feel like I got screwed and that he doesn’t give a damn about pissing off potential repeat buyers. It also makes me wonder if he retired voluntarily, or if he was one of those that was paid to go away...
"gin-san - shitpost specialist" (gin-san-)
03/18/2017 at 16:40, STARS: 1
If it was just missing the keyboard and mouse, I wouldn’t really care. No video card, though? That’s different from what you had pictured - I’d probably go for the refund. I don’t see any reason why you can’t get a refund but leave the door open for future purchases from the guy.
As for that port, it looks a bit small to be a regular HDMI or Displayport. I think it may be a mini-HDMI, judging from its size. I tried to zoom in on the photo but there isn’t enough resolution for me to tell what it is. Anyways, it doesn’t make sense for it to be anything other than (mini-) HDMI or Displayport.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
03/18/2017 at 16:53, STARS: 0
I don’t care about the keyboard and mouse since I have more of those than I know what to do with. I did just pick up a Razer keyboard and mouse over at the Goodwill Outlet, and although they’re a tad worn and sticky (that stupid rubbery coating that morphs into goop over time) they can probably be rehabilitated and made usable.
The computer did come with a video card; as it turns out it’s a 2GB GT530 which is actually a little better than I expected, to be completely honest. It just looked cheap compared to what was advertised, being a low-profile, single slot width device. I might be able to live with this card after all, and it looks like I can use it in a SFF system with a bracket change.
Even if the computer didn’t have a video card, I suspect that $200 is a fair price for a 3.4 GHz i7, 16 GB RAM and a 1.5 TB hard drive.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
03/18/2017 at 17:07, STARS: 0
Your choices are pretty clear. If you’re not happy with what you got, get the refund. Don’t worry about burning bridges. It’s just business. If you’re happy enough, leave it alone. He’s made it clear he’s not the customer service type. Just beware if you ever go to him for anything again (I wouldn’t; thee are plenty of places to get this stuff).
"Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition" (realasabass)
03/18/2017 at 17:17, STARS: 0
I hate selling computers on craigslist. Speaking of which I have a really high end workstation for sale. 2 x 10 core Xeons and 192gb of ram. Not a server, but a Dell Workstation.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
03/18/2017 at 17:22, STARS: 0
So, if I return my HP will the $211 I get back be enough to buy that Dell? :P
OK, probably not. How much does a beast like that sell for on the used market?
"gin-san - shitpost specialist" (gin-san-)
03/18/2017 at 17:24, STARS: 0
That’s a nice deal for $200. I guess whether or not you need a better video card depends on whether you game a lot and what kind of games you play. Not too difficult to upgrade as long as the power supply has the right connectors and output.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
03/18/2017 at 17:37, STARS: 0
I use my system for flight training and need a system with a little more oomph to run the newer versions of Lockheed Martin’s Prepar3d. Unlike the PoS Dells I’ve been dealing with lately the components in this HP seem to be industry standard parts. I’m in the process of moving over my GTX670 (or whatever it is - I don’t remember) and 700W modular power supply. Better video cards have gotten more affordable, and in the next month or two I’ll probably upgrade to something with 4GB as that seems to be the preferred choice for these higher-end apps.
For $200 ($211 with the upgrade from 12 to 16GB of RAM) it really is a pretty sweet deal. Maybe I overreacted to the semi-crappy video card, and kick myself for not noticing the issue at a time when I could have taken care of the issue. I’m not pleased with the attitude of the seller, but I don’t think I was trying to scam him out of anything since he did show a higher-end video card in his ad and I thought it was reasonable to receive what was advertised. This will just teach me to be a tad more observant in the future.
"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
03/18/2017 at 18:05, STARS: 1
What could be better than BTO?
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
"NojustNo" (front24200)
03/18/2017 at 18:22, STARS: 1
I know it’s frustrating you didn’t get what you paid for ....but what do you want? if he can’t replace the card, he’s offering you all your money back. he’s not trying to scam you. Most Craigslist sellers would just tell you to pound sand.
"facw" (facw)
03/18/2017 at 18:47, STARS: 0
The small port is almost certainly mini-HDMI. Nvidia used this arrangement on GTX460/470/560/570 (I do see at least one 545 with this arrangement as well, though that seems to be less common):
"Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)" (6speedhaven)
03/18/2017 at 19:49, STARS: 0
So it’s good for at least 60fps?
"Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition" (realasabass)
03/19/2017 at 00:59, STARS: 1
You can finally run Crysis.
"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii)
03/19/2017 at 07:28, STARS: 0
I was thinking of building a cheap frankstein with a 2011 machine I acquired. I’m probably just going to get a $200 newegg bundle, (cpu/mb/HD) and use it with the case/ps I already have.
Is the value of CL worth it? Or maybe troll repair shops?
"Nibby" (nibby68)
03/19/2017 at 08:31, STARS: 1
Pretty nice find! Ask him if he has any older computers, like 486 and Pentium era.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
03/19/2017 at 08:43, STARS: 1
My guess is that he doesn’t know very much about computers, nor pay attention to detail.
"Roadster Man" (roadsterman)
03/19/2017 at 09:07, STARS: 0
Get your money back. Screw this guy.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
03/19/2017 at 14:23, STARS: 0
In retrospect, it’s not that he’s all that rude, just not all that knowledgeable about the finer points of what he’s selling. Even if the system didn’t have a video card it would still have been a decent deal. I’ve done a few updates (GTX670, 700W power supply) and it’s a screaming system. I’ll keep it.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
03/19/2017 at 14:27, STARS: 0
That’s my intuition as well, and probably doesn’t know why I’d be upset about getting some tiny, basic card instead of the gaming monster I expected. He could probably tell me the differences between a 351 Cleveland and a 351 Windsor, but wouldn’t know Matrox from ATI. Like my dad, who was a consultant on the software side of the computer world and had his own consulting firm, was a disaster when it came to hardware (I didn’t think it was possible to connect a floppy drive power supply connection backwards but he found a way....)
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
03/19/2017 at 14:30, STARS: 0
He’s not really a hobbyist or collector, just someone that snaps up recently decommissioned corporate assets for retail. I don’t get the impression that his technical or historical knowledge is all that deep, and something like a 486 or early Pentium wouldn’t have great appeal to him due to the low resale value. If you want a few dozen Core 2 Duo systems he’s probably your guy...
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
03/19/2017 at 14:50, STARS: 1
Most of my late-model systems, including a 1st gen i5 and couple of speedy Core 2 Duos have come from the Goodwill Outlet, although they’re not supposed to be selling intact computers. I did score a nice deal on a decent barebones Optiplex 980 off of CL; $60 got me the base system with a 3.2 GHz processor, a couple of optical drives and 8 GB RAM, leaving me to transfer over my HD and whatever upgrades I wanted.
I’ve tried many of the local computer stores, but they don’t seem to have the assortment of used pieces and parts that I’d like to pick through. I guess eBay and CL have taken the lead in this regard. Most of the local shops seem to have the same basic assortment of used corporate machines that were bought by the pallet and refurbed. One of the things I miss most about SoCal was the monthly TRW and bi-monthly ACP swapmeets; although there were a number of professional sellers with new goods, I loved picking through the used and damaged items. I still use the excellent Polk bookshelf speakers I got there, picked up for a song because a grille was missing. Many of my favorite tools for electronics work are actually old dental and surgical tools that have been sterilized and repurposed. Digging through bins of used expansion cards and finding lots of $5 gems, mostly out of professional workstations, was also a bundle of fun. I’ve been in STL for nearly 5 years now and need to to a little research and see if we have something like that here.
I’ve been using the same monstrous Antec case for at least a decade for most of my higher-end builds, but now I’m finding that more modern systems have most of the stuff I need already integrated and make for much lighter systems; this Antec required a dolly to move it from the living room to the office, and sucked up so much power that it would trip circuit breakers if I also had a space heater running (which was pointless since the computer itself made for a great space heater...) Surround sound with optical output, memory card readers and lots of USB ports are now standard, whereas in the past I’d have to add a bunch of this stuff myself. Even this little (relatively speaking, mind you) HP has room for 4 hard drives internally which should be enough for me, and having a ton of external 5.25" bays really isn’t necessary any longer. 3.5 external bays are also irrelevant, with decent thermal control and built-in flash card readers. When I did my last build I loaded it with fans and a fancy controller only to realize that the fans I specified were so quiet I could run them all at full speed without excess noise thus negating the need for the fan controller.
A few years ago I did purchase a used PowerMac G4 with a dual 1.8 GHz processor upgrade for $100 via CL. The guy that owned it didn’t know much about Macs and figured that it was toast, but I was willing to take a chance on it. Yes, the computer he sold me was garbage, but that CPU upgrade and fancy PCI cards transferred easily into my G4. Even today 5 or 6 years later, I can probably still get over $300 for that CPU alone, and even if the CPU dies, the massive copper heat sink has to be worth a small fortune.
If you know what the going prices are for pieces and parts, new and used, CL can be a decent place to shop. You have to be a bit more trusting since there obviously isn’t any feedback mechanism, but it can pay off as it has for me. So far I haven’t been mugged or shot at, so I think I’m doing OK...
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
03/19/2017 at 18:40, STARS: 0
I ordered a USB floppy drive recently... And some guys
can’t
live with being wrong.